In 2016, motor vehicle crashes accounted for less than 1 percent of fatalities among people 70 and older.
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. 2017. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS), 2016 Unintentional Fatal Injury Data for 10 Leading Causes of Deaths, Ages 70 - 85+, All Races, Both Sexes. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available: https://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/leadcause.html. People ages 70 and older are less likely to be licensed to drive compared with younger people, and drivers 70 and older also drive fewer miles. However, older drivers are keeping their licenses longer and driving more miles than in the past.

Per mile traveled, fatal crash rates increase noticeably starting at age 70-74 and are highest among drivers 85 and older. The increased fatal crash risk among older drivers is largely due to their increased susceptibility to injury, particularly chest injuries, and medical complications, rather than an increased tendency to get into crashes.
Cicchino, J.B. 2015. Why have fatality rates among older drivers declined? The relative contributions of changes in survivability and crash involvement. Accident Analysis and Prevention 83:67-73.

Data subsections:

Trends

A total of 4,974 people ages 70 and older died in motor vehicle crashes in 2017. This is 15 percent fewer than in 1997, when deaths peaked, but a 32 percent increase since 1975. Deaths of older people increased 3 percent from 2016 to 2017. The rate of fatalities per capita among older people has decreased 44 percent since 1975.

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people 70 years and older, 1975-2017

Year

Population

Deaths

Rate

1975

14,563,945

3,775

25.9

1976

14,960,120

3,896

26.0

1977

15,401,249

3,859

25.1

1978

15,876,541

3,824

24.1

1979

16,388,617

3,772

23.0

1980

16,897,977

3,861

22.8

1981

17,322,714

3,871

22.3

1982

17,783,888

3,655

20.6

1983

18,233,751

3,734

20.5

1984

18,662,938

4,052

21.7

1985

19,072,785

4,206

22.1

1986

19,463,480

4,445

22.8

1987

19,890,817

4,555

22.9

1988

20,302,280

4,925

24.3

1989

20,719,397

4,943

23.9

1990

21,164,283

4,844

22.9

1991

21,751,897

4,843

22.3

1992

22,321,217

4,901

22.0

1993

22,800,673

5,221

22.9

1994

23,243,845

5,425

23.3

1995

23,693,757

5,509

23.3

1996

24,056,323

5,578

23.2

1997

24,408,817

5,872

24.1

1998

24,793,551

5,798

23.4

1999

25,092,805

5,657

22.5

2000

25,559,879

5,379

21.0

2001

25,797,467

5,425

21.0

2002

26,005,326

5,332

20.5

2003

26,200,946

5,363

20.5

2004

26,337,518

5,106

19.4

2005

26,658,669

5,047

18.9

2006

26,884,798

4,636

17.2

2007

27,135,517

4,631

17.1

2008

27,521,034

4,291

15.6

2009

27,786,270

3,995

14.4

2010

27,832,721

4,171

15.0

2011

28,520,353

4,071

14.3

2012

29,168,003

4,113

14.1

2013

30,095,357

4,150

13.8

2014

30,917,945

4,206

13.6

2015

31,693,384

4,427

14.0

2016

32,442,777

4,848

14.9

2017

34,022,298

4,974

14.6

Seventy-five percent of people 70 and older killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2017 were passenger vehicle occupants, and 16 percent were pedestrians. Since 1997, deaths of older passenger vehicle occupants have declined 22 percent, and deaths of older pedestrians have declined 13 percent. Although few older adults are killed while riding motorcycles, this number has risen. More than 8 times as many motorcyclists 70 years and older were killed in 2017 than in 1997.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among people 70 and older, 1975-2017

Year

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths

Pedestrian deaths

Motorcyclist deaths

Other motor vehicle deaths

All motor vehicle deaths

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

Number

1975

2,302

61

1,348

36

5

<1

120

3

3,775

1976

2,490

64

1,291

33

9

<1

106

3

3,896

1977

2,370

61

1,383

36

14

<1

92

2

3,859

1978

2,515

66

1,214

32

16

<1

79

2

3,824

1979

2,391

63

1,277

34

16

<1

88

2

3,772

1980

2,399

62

1,344

35

21

1

97

3

3,861

1981

2,495

64

1,278

33

22

1

76

2

3,871

1982

2,430

66

1,124

31

16

<1

85

2

3,655

1983

2,547

68

1,081

29

29

1

77

2

3,734

1984

2,764

68

1,164

29

32

1

92

2

4,052

1985

2,933

70

1,170

28

17

<1

86

2

4,206

1986

3,166

71

1,157

26

18

<1

104

2

4,445

1987

3,276

72

1,160

25

23

1

96

2

4,555

1988

3,540

72

1,271

26

29

1

85

2

4,925

1989

3,658

74

1,180

24

14

<1

91

2

4,943

1990

3,525

73

1,195

25

26

1

98

2

4,844

1991

3,690

76

1,044

22

22

<1

87

2

4,843

1992

3,801

78

997

20

18

<1

85

2

4,901

1993

4,076

78

1,012

19

30

1

103

2

5,221

1994

4,291

79

1,021

19

25

<1

88

2

5,425

1995

4,368

79

1,008

18

16

<1

117

2

5,509

1996

4,492

81

951

17

24

<1

111

2

5,578

1997

4,748

81

931

16

27

<1

166

3

5,872

1998

4,683

81

965

17

28

<1

122

2

5,798

1999

4,587

81

885

16

30

1

155

3

5,657

2000

4,406

82

807

15

42

1

124

2

5,379

2001

4,389

81

878

16

42

1

116

2

5,425

2002

4,287

80

845

16

50

1

150

3

5,332

2003

4,377

82

777

14

56

1

153

3

5,363

2004

4,113

81

763

15

48

1

182

4

5,106

2005

4,016

80

777

15

79

2

175

3

5,047

2006

3,681

79

707

15

76

2

172

4

4,636

2007

3,661

79

726

16

89

2

155

3

4,631

2008

3,401

79

603

14

127

3

160

4

4,291

2009

3,194

80

578

14

91

2

132

3

3,995

2010

3,246

78

628

15

137

3

160

4

4,171

2011

3,109

76

637

16

147

4

178

4

4,071

2012

3,081

75

707

17

150

4

175

4

4,113

2013

3,123

75

666

16

177

4

184

4

4,150

2014

3,136

75

729

17

139

3

202

5

4,206

2015

3,346

76

719

16

164

4

198

4

4,427

2016

3,586

74

822

17

207

4

233

5

4,848

2017

3,722

75

806

16

230

5

216

4

4,974

In 2017, 59 percent of the deaths in crashes involving passenger vehicle drivers 70 and older were the older drivers themselves, and 13 percent were their passengers. Twenty-eight percent of deaths were occupants of other vehicles or motorcyclists, bicyclists, or pedestrians. In contrast, in crashes involving at least one passenger vehicle driver younger than 30, 39 percent of the deaths were the drivers younger than 30, 19 percent were their passengers, and 42 percent were occupants of other vehicles or motorcyclists, bicyclists, or pedestrians.

Population and mileage rates

In 2017, motor vehicle crash death rates per capita increased among males starting at ages 70-74 and among females gradually beginning at ages 65-69. Males had substantially higher death rates than females for ages 16 and older.

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by age and gender, 2017

Age

Male

Female

Total

Population

Deaths

Rate

Population

Deaths

Rate

Population

Deaths*

Rate

<16

33,267,990

755

2.3

31,868,122

578

1.8

65,136,112

1,333

2.0

16-19

8,701,682

1,576

18.1

8,315,418

762

9.2

17,017,100

2,340

13.8

20-24

11,349,142

2,983

26.3

10,769,493

1,088

10.1

22,118,635

4,072

18.4

25-29

11,902,230

2,838

23.8

11,468,230

930

8.1

23,370,460

3,770

16.1

30-34

11,089,131

2,237

20.2

10,883,081

737

6.8

21,972,212

2,975

13.5

35-39

10,615,985

2,000

18.8

10,616,012

669

6.3

21,231,997

2,669

12.6

40-44

9,753,115

1,718

17.6

9,890,258

668

6.8

19,643,373

2,387

12.2

45-49

10,386,175

1,848

17.8

10,587,683

701

6.6

20,973,858

2,551

12.2

50-54

10,520,182

2,050

19.5

10,880,912

722

6.6

21,401,094

2,772

13.0

55-59

10,700,520

2,171

20.3

11,307,436

733

6.5

22,007,956

2,907

13.2

60-64

9,557,283

1,785

18.7

10,430,419

647

6.2

19,987,702

2,434

12.2

65-69

7,929,868

1,237

15.6

8,906,513

573

6.4

16,836,381

1,810

10.8

70-74

5,947,272

974

16.4

6,899,793

490

7.1

12,847,065

1,464

11.4

75-79

3,898,816

811

20.8

4,842,445

510

10.5

8,741,261

1,321

15.1

80-84

2,509,059

640

25.5

3,456,231

400

11.6

5,965,290

1,040

17.4

≥85

2,279,669

686

30.1

4,189,013

463

11.1

6,468,682

1,149

17.8

*Total includes other and/or unknowns

In 2017, the rate of passenger vehicle driver fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles traveled began to increase noticeably at ages 70-74. Drivers 85 and older had the highest rate of fatal crash involvement.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. 2018. [Unpublished analysis of 2017 data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the National Household Travel Survey]. Arlington, VA.